Day 19 - Baseball and Babes

Kevin stayed behind in NY while I went home to TX so that he could go to a game at the new Yankees stadium with his brother on Wednesday night. A life-long die-hard Yankees fan, Kevin had attended the final game at the old stadium before its demise and was a little skeptical as to whether or not the new stadium would measure up. The Yanks were playing the Orioles at 7:00pm, so Kevin went to the stadium a few hours early to give himself a stadium tour and catch some of the batting practice.

The final report on the stadium is that the historic nature of the franchise has been well preserved while also updating and modernizing the public spaces. Unique memorabilia can be found tastefully displayed near large plasma-screen tvs that broadcast the game throughout the stadium. The food choices have vastly improved with everything available to the fans from hot dogs to sushi. Overall - the Yankees fan gives it a thumbs up! The Yankees won 11 - 4. The first picture above is of Kevin and his brother, Patrick, at the game.

I spent the day in Austin hanging out with my sister Suzy before heading to my friend Gretchen's house for a little "Girls Night In" with her and Lauren for the evening. Due to a happy coincidence, our friend Georgia was also in town from D.C., so the four of us spent the evening catching up and solving the worlds problems into the wee hours of the morning. The four of us White House alumni spent alot of time traveling and working together over the years so we had alot to talk about! There is nothing like a familiar face in a old friend. I miss seeing and hanging out with these ladies more often. It was great to see girls who I will always consider good friends and get some quality girl time.

After many drinks, I decided to try and take a self-portrait of all of us using my camera's timer. That is my pathetic attempt above.

Day 18 - The Wedge

On Tuesday, I was scheduled to fly from JFK to Austin ahead of Kevin while he stayed behind for a few more days in Peekskill before beginning the long drive to meet me. My JetBlue flight was scheduled to leave at 1:10pm so we took off a little early so we could hit one of Kevin's favorite deli's on the way to the airport.

The place is called Rocky's Deli and is located in Millwood, NY. He has taken me to this legendary out-of-the-way joint on a few other occasions, and I have to admit that those guys know how to make a mean sandwich. I am from Texas and fully admit that I am no conissiuer of chicken parmesan, but the way these guys slather it on there with tons of sauce and extra mozzarella makes your mouth water. I also admit that while we Texans have our Tex-Mex and BBQ down, those funny talking yankees have cornered the market on sandwiches and pizza. The problem that I have is with what they call it - a "wedge." Now, for those of you who don't know (which I assume is the majority of this blogs readers), a "wedge" is the term that a small community of folks who live within a 20 mile radius of a particular area of NY call a sandwich. Rocky's just happens to fall smack dab in the middle of this community. So, if you want to order a chicken parmesan sandwich - you instead would order a "chicken parm wedge." If you make the faux pas of calling it a sandwich, be prepared for disapproving looks and sneers coming in your direction. I discovered this term when I attended a christening shower in the area and was told by the host that there were going to be "drinks and wedges" for refreshment. My blank stare prompted Kevin to explain the situation. You can imagine my confusion!

I have asked MANY people, MANY times why they call it a wedge and no one can even muster up a fake story for me. Your first thought might be - does it look like a wedge? Is it in the shape of a wedge? No. It is not. It looks just like your regular old sub sandwich might look, a la Subway and the famous $5 footlong with its own song. This is the only logical guess that I could muster, so if anyone has a better excuse - lay it on me. Otherwise, I am going to continue to question the legitimacy of this name and cough it up to bad breeding.

On this occasion, Kevin thought it would be funny to make me order lunch so that I would be forced to use the term. Seeing my horrified face at this prospect, he continued the plan once we got inside and refused to order from the guy behind the counter. Annoyed, the frustrated deli worker looked at me for the order, but being the stubborn woman I am, I also refused to order, pretending I wasn't ready yet. Eventually, this hilarious game came to an end when Kevin gave in and ordered for us. I gotta tell you,....it was worth the wait!

I barely made it to JFK in time thanks to some unexpected traffic on the Van Wyck. I thought I would still be okay since Jet Blue has their own terminal, but once I checked in I still managed to get stuck behind a family of 5 who didn't speak English and who had apparently never flown before. I did my best to help using some broken Spanish and wild gesticulation. After I got through the insufferable security line I ran to the gate as they were closing the door and made it to my seat just in time to tune into some Fox News on my Direct TV at my seat.

Miles traveled: 1,747
Strangest sight: A woman eating sushi in the seat next to me on the plane

Day 17 - Greenwich, CT

On Monday after we returned from St. Kitts, we had planned to drive to Greenwich, CT. We weren't planning to visit one of the wealthiest towns in America for shopping or sailing, but to see Kevin's brothers and sisters-in-law. Jack and Tara just got a new pad in the trendy neighborhood to make room for the newest member of their family expected to arrive this summer. We thought we could help to christen the place with some overpriced mexican takeout and several bottles of wine! We were really looking forward to some quality time with them and Pat and Deb before we bid our official adieu to the East Coast.

We arrived at their palatial estate once they got home from work, and they graciously offered to give us the grand tour! The open-aired layout is perfect for entertaining, and the large bedrooms with new hardwood floors throughout are nothing short of luxury! Master Luke made us all feel right at home and immediately began entertaining the guests.

After a yummy dinner from the Boxcar cantina, a local organic mexican restaurant, and several bottles of wine, the guys went to watch the Yankee game in the living room while the girls sat in the kitchen and solved the worlds problems. Luke got himself a bath and posed for some pics. That is him sporting the red mohawk and hamming it up for the crowd in the picture above.

The Duffy siblings and the wives all get along REALLY well and we always have a boozy good time when we get together! It was great to hang out and we hope that everyone will come visit very often!

Days 13-16 - St. Kitts

The rest of our vacay in St. Kitts was perfect. We had our clothes, the weather was great, the food was good, the gambling was okay and there was plenty of relaxing by the pool.

We got restless one day and decided to take a ferry to the adjacent island of Nevis. Its about a 45 minute ride over to the much smaller sister island that only has about 12,000 inhabitants. The island itself is "rustic" at best, but we managed to make our way to a famous beach bar called Sunshine's where they serve their own homemade signature drink called the Killer Bee. Apparently if you have too many, the locals refer to it as "getting stung." We sampled a few and then made our way over to the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. Who knew that he was born there? His boyhood home is still intact right on the coast. We checked it out and then headed back to St. Kitts before nightfall. The whole day trip was just enough "culture" for us.

We flew back to New York on Sunday night with no travel hiccups to report!

Day 12 - St. Kitts and the 5 B's

We were determined not to let our first full day in paradise be ruined by the lack of clean clothing, or any clothing at all for that matter.  We planned to adhere to the 4 B's:  Breakfast, Beach, Booze and Betting.  We managed to get all of them in, and even added one last B - Bags!  They finally came in around 6pm and we were able to get some clean clothes before dinner.  

The weather was great - mostly sunshine with a few clouds here and there.  We lathered ourselves in SPF 30 and 45 respectively and blinded everyone with our snow-white skin.  All-in-all a great day! 

Day 11- Travel to St. Kitts...REALLY??

Kevin and I had planned on redeeming some of the thousands of Marriott points he had accumulated over the years while traveling for the White House by taking a luxurious vacation somewhere tropical and beachy.  After months of discussion and research, we decided to go to St. Kitts.  For those of you not familiar, it is a small island located in the Carribean - somewhere in between Puerto Rico and Barbados (see map above) - where the rest of the sainted islands are found.   We chose it because the Marriott had a great all-inclusive package that we could take advantage of, and because Kevin has not spent much time in the Carribean.  We justified the splurge as a post-White House reward to ourselves for all of our hard work and long hours away.  Everyone loves a beach vacay, and we were jumping out of our pasty white skin with excitement.  As a point of history, our travels together are typically plagued with flight cancellations, bag losses, illness and late arrivals.  From our first vacation together to our honeymoon, we are consistent if nothing else. 

On the morning of Tuesday, May 12th we were scheduled to leave New York's La Guardia airport on a 6:30am flight through Miami and then to St. Kitts.  I hate getting up early for flights, but Kevin kept reassuring me that this plan would get us to the hotel by 2pm, leaving plenty of time for us to hit the beach on our first day.  The early flight meant a 4:00am alarm.  As we were getting ready that morning, I noticed Kevin's cell phone ringing and that American Airlines was on the caller ID.  Thinking it was just a confirmation call, I picked it up.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be a cancellation call where the automated voice told me that our flights had been cancelled and that we were scheduled on much later flights that would get us into St. Kitts the next morning.  Kevin immediately called a real human being and negotiated to get us on another EARLIER flight out of JFK - which is a little farther than LaGuardia from Peekskill.  This was the only other flight that could get us to St. Kitts that day. A high-speed chase ensued in Kevin's mom's Rav 4 and we arrived at the airport about 15 minutes later than the minimum 45 minute check-in time.  After being told that the check-in for that flight was closed, we put on our best pouty faces and persuaded someone to check us in at the first-class counter.  She obliged, but made no promises about our bags.  We should have known then.  

We made it to Puerto Rico on time with a few hours to spare and took the scariest propeller plane from there to St. Kitts in a tropical rainstorm.   I have flown into a lot of scary airports in my day, but this one was one of the most remote I have ever seen.  Kevin still has marks on his arms from my nails. Going through immigration actually took a long time for a plane with only 20 people on it - I am guessing due to the interrogation that we all had to go through about our health and whether or not we had the swine flu.  

Sure enough, our bags never made it.  Not only that, but there was only one flight into St. Kitts a day, and there was no hope on getting our bags until AT LEAST 5pm the next day.  I had luckily packed a bathing suit in my carry-on, but Kevin had nothing.  We spent the afternoon hitting the overpriced gift shops where Kevin got new trunks, a t-shirt and some flip-flops.   Good times.  

The St. Kitts Marriott Hotel and Casino is nice and the staff is very helpful.  They upgraded us to an Executive Suite that is bigger than our house in Alexandria and have stayed on top of the baggage situation for us with the airlines.  We are going to repay them by losing our money at the casino and frequenting the gift shops for sundries.  

Day 8 - Farewell to the East Coast Party, NY Style

On Saturday, May 9th, Mr. and Mrs. Duffy hosted a "Farewell to the East Coast" party at their house with all of their friends and the extended Duffy family.  Double D (Mr. Duffy) manned the grill and produced a dizzying amount of burgers and dogs for the group.  Tara brought several pounds of the Carey family pulled pork recipe while Deb made a yummy healthy pasta salad - minus the secret sauce :)  Mrs. D was the Hostess with the Mostest making sure everyone had a drink in one hand and a plate in the other.  Everything was yummy and the booze flowed all night and into the morning.  I don't remember much of the end of the party, but I do recall watching a video of Patrick Duffy doing a singing and dancing routine to the classic hit, "Every Little Step," by Bobby Brown.  I believe it was filmed sometime in the 80s (based on the dance moves and the sweet outfit Patrick was sporting).  I am sure if you are ever at the Duffy's they would be happy to play it for you upon request. I highly recommend it. 

It was the first official party held at the new Duffy home in Peekskill, and by the looks of the house the next morning, anyone would say it was a success.   Thanks to all of the Duffy clan for sending us off properly and for being so supportive!